The thugs dressed as officers to gain entry in home raids as they handcuffed and threatened victims

A gang of robbers terrorised families in their own homes after dressing up as police officers to gain entry.

Anjam Ahmed, Paul Thomas and Kelvin Raymond picked out victims before going around to their houses dressed in body armour and carrying walkie-talkies and clipboards.

The thugs, who used a lost Humberside Police badge and wore latex gloves in a bid to look authentic, handcuffed their victims in front of their wives and children before ransacking homes.

They netted thousands in cash and gold, a luxury car, and 12 legally held guns – now circulating in the criminal underworld – in a string of raids across Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire last year.

The thugs have now been locked up after admitting conspiracy to rob.

Career villain Thomas, 35, of Albert Avenue, Urmston, has been jailed for nine years and Raymond, 29, of Nesfield Road, Northern Moor, who also admitted an unconnected robbery in which a young woman was badly beaten in Openshaw last year, and breaching a suspended sentence for dangerous driving, has been jailed for ten years and six weeks.

Ahmed, 45, of Red Doles Road, Huddersfield, who has 126 previous offences, has been jailed for ten years and nine months.

Convicted gun smuggler Dawson Wray, of Harcourt Avenue, Urmston, was also involved in the Openshaw robbery and has been jailed for three-and-half years after he was found guilty at trial.

Alex Leach, prosecuting, told Manchester Crown Court that on April 26 two men turned up at a house in Disley wearing plain clothes with body armour and handcuffs, and carrying warrant cards, a clipboard and walkie talkies.

They tricked the homeowner into giving them the address of another man, and went round. However, the would-be victim told them he had already dialled 999 and the pair left.

Later that evening all three turned up at a family home in Huddersfield, handcuffing a man and ordering his terrified elderly mother-in-law to empty a safe, escaping with jewellery worth £14,000 and £3,000 in cash. The raid was witnessed by two toddlers. On June 5 they attempted another raid in Huddersfield but fled empty-handed after the mother-of-two they targeted rang police.

Undeterred, the gang struck three days later at Dacre Avenue, Chorlton. They forced two men to the floor and handcuffed them before fleeing with £9000 in cash and an Audi S3. The gang went on to rob a father and son of 12 guns and a coin collection worth £3,800 in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire.

Det Con Roy Storey said: “The streets of Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire are now much safer with these persistent criminals locked up, and that is testament to the hard work of the officers who worked tirelessly to unmask these criminals. What was particularly galling about these crimes is that the offenders preyed upon the trust people put in the police.

“Genuine police officers do not enter people’s homes without permission and always carry a warrant card to prove their identity. If a member of the public is uncertain about the validity of the identification they should contact police and verify the officer's collar number.”

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